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College basketball's elite in need of late-season jolt

The foursome is responsible for 27 national titles, 65 Final Four appearances and many of college basketball's most indelible moments. They are some of the sport's most historic blue bloods, and with five

The foursome is responsible for 27 national titles, 65 Final Four appearances and many of college basketball's most indelible moments. They are some of the sport's most historic blue bloods, and with five weeks remaining until Selection Sunday they are all showing some blood.

Amid an uneven season, UCLA endured a famous alum calling out its coach during a national televised broadcast.

Kentucky, the defending national champion, is no lock to make the NCAA tournament despite a No. 3 preseason ranking.

North Carolina has little margin for error if it wants to avoid missing the NCAAs for the second time under Roy Williams. And Kansas has lost three in a row, including an inexplicable loss at lowly TCU, for the first time since 2005.

If one of these story lines unfolded in any given season, it would be noteworthy. The fact that all four have played out this season underscores how historically unpredictable this season has been, and how nationwide parity has placed some of the most tradition-rich programs in precarious situations.

Kansas is a virtual lock to reach the NCAAs, and UCLA is poised at the moment to earn a single-digit seed. Kentucky and North Carolina remain fairly well positioned to reach the NCAA tournament.

But all face important tests this week: Kansas hosts Big 12-leading Kansas State tonightt; Kentucky travels to SEC-leading Florida on Tuesday; North Carolina visits Duke on Wednesday; and UCLA begins a stretch of three consecutive road games.

These preeminent programs still secure McDonald's All-Americans with more regularity than other programs. But the programs' road to March is more perilous these days because the best players rarely stay two years, much less three, and talent is dispersed nationwide more than ever.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told USA TODAY Sports this season that programs such as North Carolina used to get "four or five McDonald's All-Americans a year and keep them. Now they don't have any of the older ones. They have freshmen.

"If I was at North Carolina like Roy [Williams], I would not be as happy because they had the market cornered [on stockpiling recruits] … It's different. They will still be good. But before they were just ridiculous."

Among the four, the team most in need of a quality win at this point might be the best: Kansas. Last season's national runner-up, who have won eight consecutive Big 12 titles, is reeling.

Senior Jeff Withey said after the TCU loss that the team's confidence was "pretty low." Today's measuring-stick game will say a lot about his team's chances of extending that Big 12 title streak.

As for Kentucky, outside expectations were too high for these Wildcats, who have another talented freshman class even though they are devoid of a transcendent talent such as Anthony Davis. Kentucky coach John Calipari, while careful not to call some players selfish, said some are still thinking more about their individual goals than the team's.

"That joy that my other teams felt," Calipari said after Saturday's victory against Auburn, "unless they change, they are not going to feel that joy."

North Carolina, which has struggled on the road all season, was no match for a surging Miami, which made 15 of 26 three-point shots and is playing as well as anyone in the country.

Finally there was UCLA, which beat Washington and Washington State this week. But the wins were at least obscured by former Bruins great and ESPN analyst Bill Walton saying during Thursday's broadcast of the Washington game that he is no fan of coach Ben Howland, whose team has missed two of the last three NCAA tournaments.

So as Selection Sunday draws ever closer, the separation between the sport's most recognizable brand names and other competitive programs has never been smaller. A season short on certainty means anxious moments for blue bloods.

"Night in and night out, there are going to be wars," Florida International coach Richard Pitino said late Saturday night, as his father, Rick Pitino, was coaching another marquee team, Louisville, in what turned out to be an epic five-overtime loss at Notre Dame. "I'm not sure if there are really upsets anymore. All these programs are held to the same standards as these No. 1 teams."